Takeshi Asakura
is , a Rider in the Kamen Rider Series Kamen Rider Ryuki. He is the sixth of the 13 Kamen Riders the story revolves around and serves as one of the main villains in the series. History Series Asakura was born in 1977. At age 13, he murdered his entire family in a fire, though his younger brother survived. Since, Asakura developed a reputation as a sadistic felon with a love to fight, maim and otherwise destroy anything in his random fits of rage. As a result of his sadistic nature, prior to becoming a Rider, Asakura was personally responsible for both ending the piano career of Tezuka's friend Yuichi Saito and murdering the older sister of Miho Kirishima. Eventually, his arrogant personality results with his defense attorney, Shuichi Kitaoka refusing to represent him and left him to rot in jail. Because he was in prison and could not feed his destructive nature, Takeshi gladly accepted Kanzaki's offer to join the Rider War and forms a pact with Venosnaker, using his newfound powers as Ouja in its many forms to break out of jail, avoid the law, and get his revenge on Kitaoka. Ouja fought only to fight and was the first Rider to actually kill other Riders, killing Kamen Rider Gai and Kamen Rider Raia and taking their Contract Monster afterwards. Ouja also destroyed Kamen Rider Imperer's deck, causing him to die in the Mirror World. While the other Riders had a desire that would be granted if they won the Rider War, Asakura was simply having fun, and said that if he won, he would wish for the Rider War to start over so he could keep enjoying himself. Ren helped Asakura fake his death once so he can fight in the Rider War without police interference. But when he was publicly revealed to be alive, Asakura was soon later captured, going in and out of jail for several instances. In one such case, he uses Metalgelas while in a police van to dispose of his police captors before escaping into the Mirror World. After a fight with Kamen Rider Ryuki Survive and Kamen Rider Tiger, he had been seriously injured and handed back to the authorities once again by Shinji. Soon he escaped again, with aid of his lawyer at that time whom he had knocked out and switched clothes with the lawyer to escape. In the process of learning of Kitaoka's identity as a Rider, Asakura attempted to lure him by staging a hostage situation to get Kitaoka. Asakura had Venosnaker kidnap Goro Yura so Ouja can pressure Zolda into bringing Knight, Ryuki and Raia to a specific meeting place. However, Goro escapes by picking the lock of the handcuffs. Though he lost to Zolda, Ouja survived and senselessly killed Kamen Rider Gai in the process. Upon learning of Kitaoka's identity as a Rider, he formed a personal grudge against him that manifested in many attempts to harm Kitaoka. The two would fight many times throughout the series. Miyuki Tezuka (Kamen Rider Raia) also held a personal grudge against Asakura for ending the piano career of his friend, Yuichi Saito. During the series, he came under fire from his three monsters when they were hungry for life energy. They came close to devouring Asakura if not for his strong determination. After hunting down three Mirror Monsters, Ouja was able to feed his contract monsters. Kamen Rider Knight and Zolda tried to prevent his monsters from feeding so that they would turn on him and remove Asakura from the Rider War. but Kamen Rider Ryuki intervened and allowed the monsters to feed because Asakura had actually saved a small girl from the three monsters they hunted. At the end of the series he finally has his showdown with Zolda. Ouja, using his "Doomsday" Final Vent, destroys Magnugiga before fatally injuring Zolda. Though happy with his victory, Ouja finds out seconds later that "Zolda" was actually Goro, as Kitaoka gave him his vent deck prior to succumbing to his cancer during the fight. Just as he returned to the real world in utter disarray of being denied the right to kill the man he hated the most, Asakura finds himself surrounded by the authorities in the warehouse he was in with snipers covering them. Defiant to the end, Asakura grabs a metal rod and runs at the cops screaming as they gun him down, brought to justice at last. But because Kanzaki restored time to its proper course after Yui's death, Asakura was given a second chance in life with no memory of being a Rider and keeping a low profile, but still having a rude personality, as he was kicking Shinji's bike because it was in the way. 13 Riders In the 13 Riders Special, Asakura was already a Rider and in jail until Venosnaker busted its master out. He later kills Kamen Rider Scissors. He reappears at the end where he activates Final Vent together with the others in one ending. Kamen Rider Ryuki: Episode Final In the movie, Episode Final, Asakura was targeted by Miho Kirishima, who became Kamen Rider Femme to hunt him down for revenge. Though she was outmatched by the stronger opponent, Kamen Rider Ryuga's destroying of Genocider reverted Ouja to Blank Form. Weakened, Femme stabbed right at Ouja's blank deck, destroying it. Shortly, Ouja's armor disintegrated and Asakura dissolved in the Mirror World as he attempted to take Miho down with him. Kamen Rider Decade In Kamen Rider Decade, Ouja is summoned in the World of Hibiki by Kiva-la, wielding a kanabō which he uses to summon a Bakegani from the mountain side after knocking Kiva-la aside. Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker Asakura later appears in All Riders VS Dai-Shocker to fight the organization. However due to his sadistic nature he sides with Dai-Shocker along with KickHopper (Yaguruma). He attempts to stop Diend and Natsumi only for Diend to summon Gai, Raia, and PunchHopper to fight him and Yaguruma. He fought Gai and Raia, the two riders he killed in the series. The outcome of the fight is unknown. OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders Kamen Rider Ouja was part of a group of reinforcement riders led by Akira Date/Kamen Rider Birth to aid the primary riders in defeating the Rock Great Leader. All the Kamen Riders got on their bikes and performed the All Rider Break attack which destroyed the Great Leader. D-Video Special: Kamen Rider 4 Due to the re-alterations of time made by Shocker, Ouja later appeared, along with Kamen Riders 4, Sasword, Dark Kiva, and Baron to fight against the Kamen Riders as they catch onto Shocker's latest schemes. During the final loop, Ouja is destroyed alongside Dark Kiva by Deadheat Mach's Hit Macher Full Throttle. Kamen Rider Ghost Special Event Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Asakura was later revived along with the Beast Rider Squad as part of Foundation X's scheme in researching the Rider Gashats. He attacks Hiiro Kagami's nurse assistants, Mizuki and Satsuki, as well as Emu Hojo. Asakura as Ouja would later be defeated by Brave's Level 4 form, leading to Asakura fading away once again. Rider Time Ryuki Takeshi Asakura was among 13 people mysteriously kidnapped into the Mirror World and forced to join a survival battle royale. Unlike the other ones, he still kept his memories and quickly transformed into Kamen Rider Ouja. On the 4th day, he confronted Kamen Rider Knight, who he claimed to be his archenemy. During their fight, Ouja was ambushed by a monster but it was intercepted by Kamen Rider Zolda. As Knight engaged the monster, Ouja confronted the newly appeared Rider, but Zolda quickly detransformed, revealing himself to be Goro Yura. Realizing him to be the lackey of Shuichi Kitaoka, Asakura took his leave, but Yura insisted to follow him as a servant, even when Asakura violently beat him. Later, Asakura accepted Yura as his servant and had him prepare a meal for him. Appealled by Yura's cooking skill, Asakura promised that he would spare Yura for the time being. On the 5th day, when Shinji Kido's group was betrayed by Kamen Rider Raia and attacked by Scissors, Gai and Tiger, Ouja suddenly appeared and used a Final Vent kick to murder Tiger. When Ouja tried to strike a helpless Shinji Kido, he was intercepted by Kamen Rider Knight. . As Knight blocked the strike, Ouja joined the battle with Gai and Scissors. Zolda activated his Final Vent, causing a huge explosion, with Ouja laughing right beside him. On the 6th day, Asakura was seen eating some food prepared by Goro. He was pleased at the food as usual, but he still could not understand why Goro was serving him, as Asakura was Kitaoka's enemy. He thought that Kitaoka may "turn in his grave" should he know Goro was his servant. Asakura admitted he had never actually hated Kitaoka, but it was Kitaoka who hated him. He then remarked that "hatred is a thing that you can trust". As Asakura was the seemingly only participant with memory still intact, Ren and Shinji came to his place to ask him about the past. Asakura's only response was that their past was fighting and killing each other, and they were destined to keep fighting and killing like that for eternity. Some time later, an outraged Ouja was looking for Ren and Shinji, telling them to come out and entertain him more. Ouja started to strike random objects in a fit of rage, but the two Riders were still nowhere to be found. Personality Asakura is a violent, bad-tempered, murderous, and sadistic man, finding joy in fighting, maiming, killing, or otherwise destroying anything in his random fits of rage. He is actually so drawn to violence that he feels an unbearable tension which can only be eased through fighting. He has no sympathy or remorse for his actions, and will attack anyone simply because he is "vexed". In fact, when he's vexed, he would even go as far as to hurt himself, just to ease his tension. This is shown when he is confined in a jail cell, he becomes so frustrated that he begins banging his head on the wall until he draws blood. His unhinged nature is such that he kills his entire family without any sign of repentance in a fire when he's only 13 years old. Furthermore, upon finding out his brother survives the event, he tracks him down only to feed him to Venosnaker. In fact, Asakura's wild personality even allows him to tame his three Mirror Monsters (two of which previously belong to the Riders he has killed). Asakura alone racks up the highest body count of all the Riders in Kamen Rider Ryuki, ''being directly responsible for the deaths of Gai, Raia, Imperer and Zolda. His love for fighting is so much it is all it takes for him to join the Rider War. Unlike other Riders who join in order to have their wishes fulfilled, Asakura is just simply having fun with killing and fighting. In fact, he does not even know there is a "wish" for the winner until near the end-game stages of the War. Even upon learning that fact, he only states his wish is to make the Rider War endless, so that he can continue his destructive routine more and more to feed his urge for violence. Despite his mad and deranged personality, Asakura is far from being mindless. He is perfectly capable of intelligent manipulation and does not make stupid decisions. This is shown when he uses Gai as a human shield, then kills him in cold blood right after he has served his purpose. He is even perfectly willing to use a young girl as a bait for three Mirror Monsters for his own benefit, and when he does not need her anymore, he left her without a word. Asakura's utter disragard for human life, the versatility of his Advent Deck, along with his murderous and manipulative tendencies make him one of (if not the most) suitable candidates chosen by Shiro Kanzaki for the Rider War. Fighting Style Ouja is a melee based Rider like majority of the Kamen Riders. However, he is extremely sadistic, showing no mercy as well as superior tactics over his opponents. He fights relentlessly, but only if he is sure he will win, and isn't hesitant to use other Riders as factors or pawns in his battles. His '''Sword Vent' is his most frequently used weapon. He becomes even more powerful when he forms Contracts with Metalgelas and Evildiver. This allows him access to Gai's Strike Vent and Raia's Swing Vent, making him a more versatile as well as a more deadly force. His Contract Monster Venosnaker participates in his battles, and is often seen as Dragreder's evil equivalent in the series (this has been replaced by Dragblacker). However, Ouja is not without weaknesses. He's more vulnerable towards long-ranged opponents, his own unstable nature outclasses his fighting potential, he rarely uses his special card Steal Vent (possibly because he is comfortable with his choice of weapon, as well as only using it to disarm Riders, which is an ineffective strategy), and he rarely takes advantage of the more powerful Genocider, using the united Contract Monster as a more menacing or intimidating distraction in the battlefield. This may also prove that the united Contract Monster is difficult to control, but is restrainable. Forms is Ouja's default form when his Mirror Monsters are destroyed. It's much weaker than any other form and any of the other Riders, though it's enough to keep him from disintegrating in the Mirror World. Ouja's Blank Form is the only form among the 13 Kamen Riders seen in the show, movie, and special, not to appear in the ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' video game. Appearances: Episode Final - Ouja= Ouja Rider statistics *'Height': 200cm *'Weight': 98kg Ability Perimeters: *'Punching Power': 12.5t (AP:250) *'Kicking Power': 20t (AP:400) *'Maximum Jump Height': 40m *'Maximum Running Speed': 100m per 5 seconds *'Sight & Hearing': 15km This is Ouja's standard form that he had throughout most of the series, obtained once he forms his contract with Venosnaker. A melee-based Rider, Ouja's fighting style helped him in his victories more often than any of his Advent cards, using the scepter to conjure his spiral-bladed Veno Saber. His Final Vent is , running at an opponent with Venosnaker slithering behind before raising its head up as its master jumps back towards it and the Mirror Monster launches him so he can deliver a rapid bicycle kick at the target. Once he defeated Gai and Raia, he had access to both their contract monsters and their Advent cards, becoming an even more dangerous force to be reckoned with the Unite Vent to create Genocider so the Final Vent Doomsday is used, with Ouja corkscrew kicking his opponent into a vortex that materialized on Genocider's torso. Appearances: Ryuki Episodes 18-28, 31-32, 34-36, 40-41, 43-45, 50, Episode Final, 13 Riders, Ryuki vs Kamen Rider Agito, Brave: ~Let's Survive! Revival of the Beast Rider Squad!~ - Survive= Ouja Survive Rider Statistics *'Height': 198cm *'Weight': 97kg Ability Perimeters: *'Punching Power': 17.5t (AP:350) *'Kicking Power': 27.5t (AP:550) *'Maximum Jump Height': 60m is Ouja's ultimate form, which only appeared in the first Ryuki's S.I.C. Hero Saga story in Monthly Hobby Japan magazine, . This form is acquired when Ouja stole the Survive Shippu card from Kamen Rider Knight, becoming more powerful than his other forms. From the magazine, his contract monster Venosnaker, is also able to change into a more powerful version, , and combine it with other stolen contract monsters to form . }} Contract Monsters Advent Cards Kamen Rider Ouja had the most Advent Cards out of any of the Riders. This was because he obtained two extra decks of cards by contracting with two of the Mirror world monsters that were previously contracted with Riders he defeated. Venosnaker-Based File:Strike_Advent.jpg|*'Advent''' (AP: 5000): Summons Venosnaker. File:Strike_Sword_Vent.jpg|*'Sword Vent' (AP: 3000): Conjures Veno Saber. File:Steal_Vent.jpg|*'Steal Vent': Steals a target Rider's weapon. File:Strike_Final_Vent.jpg|*'Final Vent' (AP: 6000): Executes Veno Crash. Venosnaker launches Ouja at the opponent where Ouja performs a devastating bicycle kick on the opponent. Metalgelas-Based File:Metalgelas_Ouja.jpeg|*'Advent' (AP: 4000): Summons Metalgelas. File:Strike_Vent_(Ouja)_(Metalgelas).jpg|*'Strike Vent' (AP: 2000): Conjures Metal Horn. File:Final_Vent_(Ouja-Strike)_(Metalgelas).jpg|*'Final Vent' (AP: 5000): Executes Heavy Pressure. Ouja rides on Metalgelas with the Metal Horn extended in front of him to pierce through the opponent. Evildiver-Based File:Advent-Attack_Vent_-_Evildiver_(Ouja-Strike).jpg|*'Advent' (AP: 4000): Summons Evildiver. File:Sting_Swing_Vent.jpg|*'Swing Vent' (AP: 2000): Conjures Evil Whip. File:Final_Vent_(Ouja-Strike)_(Evildiver).jpg|*'Final Vent' (AP: 5000): Executes Hide Venom. Ouja rides on Evildiver's back and rams the enemy. Genocider-Based File:GENOSIDER.jpg|*'Advent' (AP: 7000): Summons Genocider. File:Unite Vent.jpg|*'Unite Vent': Combines Venosnaker, Metalgelas, and Evildiver into Genocider. File:Doomsday Final Vent.jpg|*'Final Vent' (AP: 8000): Executes Doomsday. Ouja corkscrew kicks his opponent into a vortex that materializes on Genocider's torso. Legend Rider Devices - Ridewatch= }} Relationships Kamen Riders * Shuuichi Kitaoka/Zolda: Asakura's enemy who refuses to be his lawyer until he escapes from jail thanks to Shiro Kanzaki. Throughout the series, he is hellbent on killing Kitaoka, seeing it as one of the main reasons why he entered the War. However, in Rider Time: Ryuki, Asakura admits he has never really hated Kitaoka, but it is Kitaoka who always hates him instead. * Ren Akiyama/Knight: Ren helps Asakura escape from the police on one ocassion just so that he can fight him without interference. However, when Asakura crosses the line by injuring Shinji's arm in a fight prior to transforming, Ren fights him to claim Ryuki for himself fairly. In'' Rider Time: Ryuki,'' Asakura states that he and Ren are "so close that they have to kill each other". * Shinji Kido/Ryuki: At first, Asakura sees Shinji as a bumbling fool. Nevertheless, after learning his identity as a rider and having fought him twice (with the second time resulted in his nearly losing), he feels vexed of his righteousness and sees him as one of his rivals that he has to kill personally. * Satoru Tojo/Tiger: After Tiger injures him badly in a sneak attack, which results in his being thrown into jail once more, Asakura takes it upon himself to eliminate Tojo. In fact, on more than one occasion, Asakura chooses to fight and kill Tiger first even while in the process of battling his archenemy Kitaoka, emphasizing his hate towards the backstabber. Others * Shiro Kanzaki: Despite his destructive nature and love for fighting, Asakura is surprisingly civil (and even somewhat friendly) towards Shiro. He even offers him food on two occasions. This is possibly because Shiro is the one who gives him powers in the first place. Behind the scenes Portrayal Takeshi Asakura is portrayed by . As Kamen Rider Ouja, his suit actor was , his sub was . Name *Ouja's name is variably written as "Oja", "Ohja", and "Ohjya" in media released by TV Asahi, Toei Company, and Bandai. **His Rider name, Ouja, could also literally meant , as he is the long standing evil Kamen Rider in this series. *Asakura translates to 'Morning Storehouse.' It is the name of a former village, a city, and a district in Japan, as well as that of a daimyō clan. *He shares his first name with Takeshi Hongo/Kamen Rider 1, the first Kamen Rider. Dub names In the Korean dub of Kamen Rider Ryuki entitled Masked Rider Dragon, which aired in South Korea, Kamen Rider Ouja is renamed Masked Rider Viper (가면라이더 바이퍼 Gamyeon Raideo Baipeo). Notes *Kamen Rider Ouja is also based on the Shocker monster, Cobra Man where both individuals share a dominant purple color. **Ouja's Contract Monster, Venosnaker also shared this motif to the point where it can also spit dangerous venoms like the said Shocker monster. **A homage to Ouja appears in Kamen Rider Den-O in the form of the Cobra Imagin, who not only shares Ouja's cobra motif but is also voiced by Ouja's actor, Takashi Hagino. As pointed out in the design book Imagin: Say Your Wish..., the Cobra Imagin is designed to resemble Ouja. *Gen Urobuchi, the head writer of Kamen Rider Gaim, used Ouja to describe Takatora Kureshima (Kamen Rider Zangetsu), referring to him as 'the Ouja' of the series. Although, it was later revealed that Urobuchi refers to the second ''Zangetsu, Mitsuzane Kureshima, especially in Gaim's second act. *The kanabo he used in ''Kamen Rider Decade is similar to the one used by Tohki. *Just like the other Kamen Riders, he died an ironic death: he killed the most Riders in the war, but never the ones he wanted to kill the most: Shinji, Tojo and Kitaoka. He originally entered the war to kill Kitaoka, but when he finally, technically achieved his goal by killing Zolda (who was, in truth, Goro Yura), he went mad with dissatisfaction and was himself killed by the cops. **He has the most deaths for his series; and the number of the Riders he killed quadruples the irony: he was killed by the authorities after losing his cool in the TV series, impaled by Femme in Episode Final, defeated by Kamen Rider (Deadheat) Mach's finisher in D-Video Special: Kamen Rider 4, and lastly killed by Brave's Level 4 form in the Beast Rider Squad special. *Strangely, Ouja's Blank Form does not lose the Snake motifs as Ryuki's loses his Dragon motifs upon reverting to Blank Form. Ouja's Blank Form instead is his standard form desaturated to gray tones. *Ouja is the only Ryuki Rider that didn't have an A.R. World counterpart, as the Ouja that is summoned by Kiva-la in World of Hibiki and later by Diend in World of Decade is Asakura himself. *Asakura claims to have developed omnivorous traits to survive on the streets. He is shown eating raw egg yolks and oyster shells (both in Kitaoka's house) without showing any signs of frustration. Appearances ** Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Dai-Shocker **Episode 19: Ending Journey * OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders * D-Video Special: Kamen Rider 4 **Episode 3 Duel! The True Identity of Shocker's Great Leader * Kamen Rider Brave: ~Let's Survive! Revival of the Beast Rider Squad!~ * Kamen Rider Zi-O Spin-off **''Part 2: Rider Time Ryuki'' }} See Also *Pryce & James Trademore - Takeshi's American counterparts in Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. References *Kamen Rider Ryuki (DVD) *Kamen Rider Ryuki @ TV Asahi *Kamen Rider Ryuuki Spoiler Page Category:Ryuki Riders Category:Villains Category:Rival Category:Heisei Era Riders Category:Card Riders Category:Deceased Category:Revived Riders Category:Ryuki Characters